India has the fifth largest power generation capacity in the world at 159,398.50 MW as of 2010. The Indian government aims to increase per capita electricity to over 1,000 units by 2012, requiring an estimated 100,000 MW of additional capacity. This will lead to massive investment plans in generation, transmission, and distribution. Transmission and distribution losses remain high at around 33%, posing a challenge for distribution companies. The 12th five year plan estimates 100GW of new power generation capacity by 2017, with 40% coming from private sector sources.

1. Current Power Sector Scenario in India:<br />India has the fifth largest generation capacity in the world with an overall installed capacity of 159,398.50 MW as on 31 March 2010, which is about 4% of global power generation. The Indian government has set ambitious goals in the 11th plan for power sector on account of which is poised for significant expansion. In order to facilitate over 1,000 units of per capita electricity by year 2012, it has been estimated that need-based capacity addition of more than 100,000 MW would be required. This has led to massive plans being proposed in the subsectors of Generation, Transmission and Distribution. Thermal generation in 11th five year plan requires total funding of Rs2,984 billion for building up power plants. The current installed transmission capacity is not more than 13% of the total installed generation capacity (20,721.81 MW). With focus on increasing generation capacity over the next ten years, the corresponding investments in the transmission sector are also likely to enhance. The Ministry of Power intends to set up an Integrated National Power Grid in the country by 2012 with approximately 200,000MW generation capacities and 37,700 MW of inter-regional power transfer capacity.<br />While some progress has been made at reducing the Transmission and Distribution (T&D) losses, these still remain substantially higher than the global benchmarks, at approximately 33 percent. In order to address some of the issues in this segment, reforms have been undertaken through unbundling the State Electricity Boards into separate Generation, Transmission and Distribution units and privatization of power distribution has been initiated either through the outright privatization or the franchisee route; results of these initiatives have been somewhat mixed. While there has been a slow and gradual<br />Improvement in metering, billing and collection efficiency, the current loss levels still pose a significant challenge for distribution companies going forward. According to the 12th five year plan(2012-2017) the estimated capacity for power generation is 100GW. Private sector will contribute 40% towards power generation in the 12th five-year Plan.<br />Energy requirement at Power Station Bus bars (Utilities only) (in GWh) From 2007-08 to 2011-12Region2007-082008-092009-102010-112011-12North223928239807256859275171294841West244481256075268307281220294860South 189312203606219001235582253443East772218460192767101805111802North Eastern Region932610193111411218413329Andaman & Nicobar219248281316344Lakshawadeep2831343740All India 744515794561848390906316968659<br />Peak Load at Power Stations Bus Bars (Utilities Only) (in MW) From 2007-08 to 2011-12Region2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12Northern Region3514538021411314449648137Western Region3726439513418984442747108Southern Region2985432192347153743440367Eastern Region1267014037155521723019088North Eastern Region17101888208322992537Andaman & Nicobar4956637177Lakshawadeep89101111All India 113059121891131413141678152746<br />